While bone marrow stem cells have been shown to play an important role in tissue repair,

the role of stem cells in tumor formation has also been intensely investigated. Some
scientists have suggested that bone marrow-derived stem cells (BMDSCs) might be
involved in the process of tumor formation. The link between chronic inflammation and
cancer has long been recognized, as cancer has been called a wound that never heals,
and a wound is known to attract stem cells.
It has been proposed that BMDSCs could become tumor cells or enhance the
development of existing tumors by contributing to the formation of blood vessels in the
tumor. If circulating stem cells were to contribute to tumor vasculature and tumor
growth, then increasing the number of circulating stem cells should accelerate tumor
growth.

StemEnhance is a novel mobilizer of bone marrow stem cells that was shown to
increase the number of circulating stem cells by 25%. Therefore, we investigated the
effect of daily consumption of StemEnhance on the growth of human breast tumor
implanted in a mouse model.





In brief, fluorescent human MDA-MB-435 cancer cells were grown into tumors, which
were later transplanted by surgical implantation into the mammary fat pad of forty female

Increase in the number of circulating stem cells by StemEnhance
does not promote tumor growth

Introduction
Methods
mice. Twenty-one days after implantation, mice were randomly separated in two groups.
For a duration of six weeks, experimental animals were fed with 300 mg/kg of
StemEnhance while controls were fed placebo. Tumor growth was monitored using live
whole body fluorescence imaging. At the end of the study, tumors were excised and
weighed.






There was no evidence of toxicity due to StemEnhance. Animals in both groups showed
identical body-weight growth patterns and no visual or behavioral differences could be
seen between the two groups.

At the start of the feeding
trial, tumor areas for both
control and experimental
group were statistically
identical. Changes in
tumor area, and rates of
increase from weeks 1 to
6, were determined using
repeated measures
analysis of variance.
Tumor growth was
approximately linear, as determined by orthogonal polynomial regression. Tumor growth
rate was slower in the StemEnhance group (P=0.014) when compared to the control
group. The reduction in tumor growth was significant by week 2 and at week 6 tumor
areas were 40% larger in the control group (1.70 cm
2
) than in the StemEnhance group
(1.25 cm
2
) (P<0.01). Metastasis was not seen in either group. At the end of the study,
tumors were carefully excised and weighed. Mean tumor weight in the StemEnhance-
treated-group (0.44 0.21) was 35% smaller than in the control (0.68 0.42) (P < 0.03).
P>0.3
P<0.04
P<0.004
P<0.016
P<0.018
P<0.007
PBS
SE
Ctrl
SE
Ctrl
SE
Results
These results for tumor mass are consistent with the analyses of tumor area.





Animals received 300 mg/kg of StemEnhance , which is roughly 10 times the daily intake
normally recommended for humans. Even at that high level, growth was normal and
animals showed no signs of toxicity. Daily consumption of the stem cell mobilizer
StemEnhance reduced the rate of human breast cancer growth without affecting growth
pattern. No metastases were seen, at least in the conditions of this study.

Little data exist to suggest how circulating stem cells could contribute to reducing tumor
growth. It is possible that after migrating in a tumor, attracted by cytokines, and after
proliferating and differentiating in cells of the target tissue, stem cells could secrete
cytokines inhibiting cellular division.

Other compounds in StemEnhance could have contributed to the effect observed in this
study, such as phycocyanin and specific polysaccharides. Nevertheless, based on these
results, increasing the number of circulating bone marrow stem cells does not promote
the growth of breast cancer.


Discussion